In midst of the whirlwind of the last leg of campaigning for the general elections, Anirban Chaudhary, editor of Zee 24Ghanta, caught up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at DumDum in West Bengal on Thursday.
They talked about the strategy to hold 17 rallies in Bengal and Vision 2021. "When we are voted into power, we are not voted to have fun in Delhi; it is our responsibility to go to every nook and corner of the country and hold dialogue with the people," said the Prime Minister. "I have had a special relationship with Bengal. My life started here at Ramakrishna Mission. Love and blessings from the people of the state give me strength."
He talked about his vision for the country and development strategy. "You see economic activity in the western region… Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala," he said. "On the eastern side Assam, Bihar, Odisha have abundant natural resources and talented people, but there is also so much poverty. There needs to be balanced development. Other regions will have to be fast-tracked. Only then can India become a 5-trillion dollar economy, only then will we jump to number 3 from number 6."
As the conversation turned to this week's violence in Bengal, he said Trinamool Congress lost control as they know they are facing defeat in the poll booth. "They have decided that the people of Bengal are their enemies, and are attacking them," said the Prime Minister, who held two rallies in the state in DumDum and Mathurapura on Thursday. "It's Government versus the People. Those being killed are the children of Bengal, and those killing them are sitting in government. This did not start in the Lok Sabha polls. This has been happening since the Panchayat polls. Whoever won other than the TMC, found their homes on fire. This undemocratic attitude is a cause for worry for the whole country."
Confident of victory, he talked about projects envisioned for the future: "For the first time," he said, "We are looking further than five years. India will complete 75 years of freedom in 2022. We plan to complete 75 programmes in two to two-and-half years. Such development will be a mass movement in every neighbourhood. City-village, literate-illiterate, man-woman, everyone will be covered. The other aim is to take infrastructure to a global level."
